BJP unlikely to repeat 2008 outcome in Bangalore segments

Saddled with perceptible anti- incumbency sentiments, the ruling BJP is expected to yield ground in Bangalore urban areas that account for a significant 28 seats in the May five Assembly elections.
In the 2008 elections, the party had bagged 17 of those seats under the leadership of B S Yeddyurappa and on the back of a "sympathy factor" after the JDS refused to hand over power to the party, reneging on its promise on the coalition.
This time, there are no such factors in its favour. Yeddyurappa formed his own party Karnataka Janatha Paksha (KJP) last year after walking out of BJP, and may dent the ruling party's prospects in the city.

The Congress had bagged ten seats and the JDS of former Prime Minister H D Deve Gowda just one in the previous elections to the 224-member Assembly.
The crisis on the solid waste disposal front which lingered on for many weeks in parts of the city is still fresh on the minds of Bangaloreans, and the BJP which was at the helm of affairs in the Bangalore City Corporation had received flak over the inept handling of the issue.
The "face" of KJP in the city is undoubtedly the former Chief Minister's protege Shobha Karandlaje, who is taking on "seasoned" Law and Parliamentary Affairs Minister S Suresh Kumar in Rajajinagar.

Shobha, who had served the BJP government as Energy Minister, as also Rural Development and Panchayat Raj Minister in the Yeddyurappa cabinet, had won from the neighbouring Yeshwantpur constituency in 2008. The segment is among those being keenly watched.